Miscellaneous Inspirations

Miscellaneous Inspirations

VIDEO - Poky Stroll to Gershwin's Summertime

Want a fun, intermediate level summertime jazz assignment?

Watch this video, below, where you create jazz piano chord voicings, step by step.Test your knowledge by finding another example of each chord voicing in the arrangement of Poky Stroll.

Then test your ears and arranging skills again, because if you can play Poky Stroll, you should be able to play Summertime by Gershwin, using the same arranging techniques you just learned!

Students love these pieces - especially when the assignment is to create their own RH melodies.

Click here to download the music for Poky Stroll (Full members, please be sure to sign in first to view and download this document, free of charge.):

icon Poky Stroll Your Way to Gershwin's Summertime (49.34 kB)

Click here to download the chord voicings instructions (Full members, please sign in first, so you will not have to pay for the PDF):

icon Pokey Stroll and Summertime Chord Voicings (54.7 kB)

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Swing Your Partner, Skip To My German Dance!?

(Early Intermediate Level)

Any pianist worth their salt needs the ability to do harmonic analysis. Sounds mighty complicated - something pianists perhaps only really begin to do in grad school - but it's not. Why, even children do it, look forward to doing it, and have fun as a result.

But how? Is there such a thing as an early intermediate level lead sheet? Yes, of course! Better yet, how can playing a simple version of Skip to My Lou lead to a thorough understanding of an equally well-known piano piece by Beethoven?

You may access this 3-page PDF tutorial download (please sign in first, if you're a full member, so you can download it for free) through the Sheet Music and Downloads area, or by clicking here to continue...Swing Your Partner, Skip To My...German Dance!? (343.16 kB)

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